"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" ~ Mary Oliver

let go. . .

by mulberryshoots

I guess I should stop being a Chinese mother. Or in today’s vernacular, a “Tiger Mother.” One who protects her cubs no matter what. They don’t seem to want or need it. And I’m too worn out from their lifetime of worrying over them. There comes a time in a parent’s life when the kids just want to do things their way–this starts from an early age, but one scurries about nevertheless, placing a safety net under them, just in case.

When they stop telling you about what they are doing and go their own way, that’s a sign to let them go. Not just physically, of course, but mentally and emotionally. If they want to lead their lives in ways that you would not consider yourself, your job is to stay silent. Past a certain age (theirs and mine) your opinion doesn’t count for very much anymore.

Holiday plans are set up without my input, even though unvoiced expectations are still in place (“go ahead and do what you want, Mom”) but it’s not the same anymore. I still get to provide and pay for the venue (the “magical” setting, decorations, food and drink) but they do what they please (arriving late, rushing away.) How did this happen? Respect and regard somehow got lost in the shuffle. Once gone, it’s gone forever.

ralph waldo emerson:

“Every spirit builds itself a house; and beyond its house, a world; and beyond its world a heaven. Know then, that the world exists for you: build, therefore, your own world.”

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."

morning glories

Every year we plant "heavenly blue" morning glory seedlings in front of the barn. By the Fall, their brilliant blooms create an evanescent blanket of blue, viewed from our kitchen window on foggy mornings in late October and November.
Each flower blooms in the morning and fades at night, a reminder to live each day as it opens and closes.